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A review by chelseaj91
Better Off Wed by Laura Durham
3.0
The murder of a particularly difficult mother-of-the-bride has cast a pall on wedding planner Annabelle Archer's latest triumph -- and suspicion falls heavily on her sometime-business partner and friend Richard Gerard. Annabelle knows that even her trusted wedding emergency kit won't be able to salvage their careers if she and Richard can't find the real culprit.
It's no easy task since the slain matron was perhaps the most hated socialite in D.C., but Annabelle navigates through the city's colorful wedding industry and powerful social scene on the deadly trail of a killer. Always the bridal consultant and never the bride, she's seen her fair share of bouquet tosses. But there's no telling what surprises a ruthless killer will throw her way if she gets too close.
Ok, so this was...well, to be completely honest, I'm not too sure exactly how I feel about it. There's definitely potential here, but at the same time I got really frustrated and annoyed with several of the characters.
I really liked how Annabelle was trying to solve this, if only to clear Richard's name. Richard was mildly hilarious in all his minor freakouts, but some of them I was kind of confused about why he was having a meltdown. It was interesting the way that Annabelle got most of her information and I did like how she'd think through her actions. Oftentimes it was either as she was about to get caught by someone or after the fact, but at least she was considering a course of action. And I do kind of want her to contact Reese. There's definitely potential for something there. At least if certain people don't drive him away...
Leatrice was nice, but I really wished she'd just butt out. I mean really, she butts into Annabelle's apartment without notice, invites herself over for food, claims that Annabelle gave her a key (not too sure I fully believe that...based on other things her character did, I wouldn't put it past her to have somehow managed to nab a key from the super) and then wouldn't stop trying to set Annabelle up with Reese. Now, on it's own, that part isn't so bad, Annabelle clearly does need help in that department, but the fact that she glares at anyone else who so much as smiles at Reese just didn't work for me.
Kate was a little too much stereotypical hookup girl. Plus, what was with her mangled sayings? I mean, some of them I'll give you. But the way she mangled others felt almost physically impossible for someone with half a brain. And while Kate admittedly appears willing to sleep with anything male, she also seems to have a decent head on her shoulders. Although, she really can't drive, so maybe that's part of it.
I also had an issue with some of the editing. There were a few different spelling errors and also at the end Fern suddenly became Fem. Not sure if that was something to do with my NOOK or something that's throughout all the books, but it was a little frustrating.
All in all, this was a cute story and interesting way to start the series. I will likely be checking out the rest of the books eventually.
It's no easy task since the slain matron was perhaps the most hated socialite in D.C., but Annabelle navigates through the city's colorful wedding industry and powerful social scene on the deadly trail of a killer. Always the bridal consultant and never the bride, she's seen her fair share of bouquet tosses. But there's no telling what surprises a ruthless killer will throw her way if she gets too close.
Ok, so this was...well, to be completely honest, I'm not too sure exactly how I feel about it. There's definitely potential here, but at the same time I got really frustrated and annoyed with several of the characters.
I really liked how Annabelle was trying to solve this, if only to clear Richard's name. Richard was mildly hilarious in all his minor freakouts, but some of them I was kind of confused about why he was having a meltdown. It was interesting the way that Annabelle got most of her information and I did like how she'd think through her actions. Oftentimes it was either as she was about to get caught by someone or after the fact, but at least she was considering a course of action. And I do kind of want her to contact Reese. There's definitely potential for something there. At least if certain people don't drive him away...
Leatrice was nice, but I really wished she'd just butt out. I mean really, she butts into Annabelle's apartment without notice, invites herself over for food, claims that Annabelle gave her a key (not too sure I fully believe that...based on other things her character did, I wouldn't put it past her to have somehow managed to nab a key from the super) and then wouldn't stop trying to set Annabelle up with Reese. Now, on it's own, that part isn't so bad, Annabelle clearly does need help in that department, but the fact that she glares at anyone else who so much as smiles at Reese just didn't work for me.
Kate was a little too much stereotypical hookup girl. Plus, what was with her mangled sayings? I mean, some of them I'll give you. But the way she mangled others felt almost physically impossible for someone with half a brain. And while Kate admittedly appears willing to sleep with anything male, she also seems to have a decent head on her shoulders. Although, she really can't drive, so maybe that's part of it.
I also had an issue with some of the editing. There were a few different spelling errors and also at the end Fern suddenly became Fem. Not sure if that was something to do with my NOOK or something that's throughout all the books, but it was a little frustrating.
All in all, this was a cute story and interesting way to start the series. I will likely be checking out the rest of the books eventually.